The Mineola school board unanimously approved a $91.2 million 2016-2017 budget on Thursday, paving the way for the start of a five-year capital plan next year.
Helped by a nearly 10-percent state aid increase and $650,000 in additional unallocated savings, the district will take up nine capital projects and make more than a dozen equipment purchases in the coming year, according to the final budget Superintendent Michael Nagler presented Thursday.
“It’s exciting, the stuff we’re going to be able to do,” school board Trustee Margaret Ballantyne-Mannion said.
Part of the budget’s $830,000 in facilities upgrades and almost $577,000 in state money from the 2014 SMART Schools Bond Act will turn classrooms at the Hampton Avenue and Meadow Drive Schools into pre-kindergarten wings, allowing the district to expand its capacity for full-day pre-school classes.
The school board also approved the spending plan Monday for that money, Mineola’s portion of $2 billion the state government borrowed and distributed to school districts to help them pay for new technology and certain facilities upgrades.
The 1.73-percent budget increase over this year comes despite a state-mandated $10,000, 0.012-percent tax levy decrease, driven by lower-than-expected payments in lieu of taxes, and a flat tax base growth factor, a number that measures the amount of new taxable brick-and-mortar property in the district, officials have said.
State funds and $900,000 in unallocated fund balance money will pay for one-time expenses for facilities fixes and equipment — including parts of nine of 22 projects in the five-year capital plan Nagler presented last month — while maintaining all district programs.
“It’s an incredibly comprehensive budget that I think we should be proud to present to the community, especially with the negative tax levy and furthering our programs and our facilities,” he said.
Among next year’s capital plan projects are repairs to the cupola and new classroom air conditioning at Jackson Avenue School, a new district storage facility, new music rooms and lockers at Mineola High School, the pre-kindergarten wings, a new playground surface at Meadow Drive School, and a bus loop at Mineola Middle School.
Nagler has said it’s prudent to use the extra fund balance money, normally unassigned to any specific expense, for one-off expenses such as these, but not for recurring expenses.
Officials already plan to shrink facilities, capital and equipment spending in the 2017-2018 budget accordingly, Nagler said.
Mineola was one of nine Nassau County school districts to see a negative tax levy cap this year, according to state comptroller’s office data.
